This review spot is NEW because it embodies the new idea that a book should not be judged by its cover or its press. If a reviewer thinks a book is great, The New Book Review lets readers know about it. Please submit your own favorite review. It makes no difference whether you're an author, reviewer, or reader, I want to post your favorite reviews FREE. See guidelines for submission on the left of this blog. And please note: This blog was named to Online Unversity's 101 Best Blogs for Readers.

Share This Blog on Your Own Social Network

Author and New Book Review Editor

Carolyn's Calendar: Presentations. Free Classes. Book Signings.

Review Submission Guidelines--Come One! Come All...

...but please follow the rules. I want this to work for all--efficiently, so...

1. Send only one review a month. DO NOT TRY TO POST YOURSELF. Send it to HoJoNews @ aol (dot) com with NEWBOOKREVIEW in the window of your e-mail.

2. Send only one review with each submission.

3. Edit and avoid cuss words.

4. No attachments. Did I say, "Send reviews in the body of an e-mail to HoJoNews@aol.com?? Put "THE NEW BOOK REVIEW" in the subject line.

5.Lead with all the facts (often called metadata) that apply to your review from this list: title, author, author's Web site link, genre or category, ISBN, name of reviewer and reviewer's link, the journal where the review was originally published, publisher and reviewer's rating, if any. Do include a link where blog visitors can buy the book if they choose to do so.
6. If the reviewer is not sending a review for him or herself, please let me know that you have permission to reprint the review and don't fib. (-: You may publish Amazon reviews even though you have heard that they own the rights to reviews. Please credit them as first publisher., but you still need to get permission for the reviewer.

7. I accept reviews for erotica but the reviews themselves must be G rated.

8. Your review is subject to editing and I'm the editor! If I say lie and you say lay, you'll need to get over it. OK? Please avoid putting anything in all caps. Some readers are sensitive to yelling. (-:

9. You'll be asked to participate in a cross-promotion effort. That is, you'll want to send out an announcement that your review appears on this blog. That helps readers find your book and the books of other authors posted here. At a minimum, please link to your review on your social networks.

PS: Your review will be indexed by genre or book category. Please include it. (-: Otherwise, I'll guess.

PPS: Please note that because I sometimes have 31 reviews to post in a given month and that this service is free to authors, reviewers and readers, I need reviews to be submitted so that they are ready to copy and paste.

Sign Up for Sharing with Writers: It's a Community. Learn from Others. Share with Others.

Subscribe to Sharing with Writers at www.howtodoitfrugally.com. There is a sign-up window in the upper right corner of every page of the blog. You'll get a free e-copy of my booklet Great First Impression Book Proposals and tons of marketing tips, craft tips, how-to articles, and publishing news in every issue.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Judi Silva Reviews "Writing the Breakout Novel"

Writing the Breakout Novel is one book that will definitely help you take your fiction writing to the next level. Whether you’re a first time novelist or a published author, Donald Maass can show you how write that novel that will stand out on the bookstore shelves and scream “Read Me!” If you want to find your novel on the best-seller lists, then this writing reference book is a must.

Writing fiction is a whole different ballgame than non-fiction. You have characters that sometimes get a mind of their own, plots that come to a screeching halt in a dead-end alley or times and places that just don’t seem to mesh together for one reason or another. What do you do?

First things first. Grab Maass’ book from out of the collection which stands neatly on your desk and open it up. Start with the encouraging forward by Anne Perry and then dig right in to the first of eleven highly-packed chapters. Be prepared, as the author doesn’t just give you the book to read but shows you how to use it.

You’ll learn how to write your breakout novel by learning the techniques to create your premise, characters, plots and multiple viewpoints, along with honing your skills in developing a theme, pace, voice, endings and much more, including the finer details. Breakout check-lists at the end of each chapter are very helpful in making sure you have everything covered before moving on to the next task at hand. Each component of every element of novel writing is broken down, covering what often goes wrong and how to remedy it. Identify the roadblocks and learn the systematic removal of them. Using other literary masterpieces, cases in point are made to show how it is successfully accomplished.

After you have a completed novel, you will learn how to “break out”, to find and work along with your agent and editor, as you venture into writing the pitch and outline (synopsis). As an author of seventeen novels and more than twenty years of experience as a literary agent, Maas gives sound advice on publishing and beyond.

“Every novel is a world unto itself. It lives, breathes, alternates between day and night, changes, grows and acts upon the characters or is indifferent to them. So build your world!”

Are you ready to take your writing to the next level? Then this book is essential to own.

Reviewed By Judi Silvajudi.silva@gmail.comhttp://www.dark-horse-adaptations.com/Originally published on Assoicated Content: http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/1968/simran.html

-----The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.